Thank you to Net Galley and Viking Penguin for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Cora goes to register the name of her newborn son with her nine year old daughter Maia after a huge storm has delayed the process. Cora's husband is a well respected doctor but at home he is belligerent, condescending and controlling, and has insisted that Cora name the baby after him. Yet, as Cora is there she's not sure what name she will register for her some. In three alternating stories spanning about three decades, we see the effects of a name - one picked by Gordon, one picked by Cora, and the last by Maia. We follow the family members and based on the name their lives are changed, as well as what her son becomes. This is the ultimate sliding door scenario. 3.5 stars.

The Names by Florence Knapp is such an interesting look at how a name can change the trajectory of a life. This book is broken into three different stories that all follow Cora and her family starting from the day she goes to the registrar's office to name her newborn son. The stories alternate based on which name she gives him. These stories are full of trauma and heartache, but I very much enjoyed all three storylines and I think this would be a phenomenal book club read!

The idea of how a life can be different based on a child's name was very intriguing and the book lived up to it. We follow the same family with three different paths. Cora names her son differently, admittedly the storylines have more to do with the father's reaction to Cora depending on the name she chose than how the name affected her son.

I really enjoyed the story and how even one decision we make can affect our lives. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 is a stunning, captivating story that is one of the best books this year! It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel.

Knapp explores various potential futures facing the main protagonist Cora and her two children, all stemming from the pivotal decision of naming her newborn son. The book explores the lives of the family over 35 years, told in a sliding doors/alternate reality narrative.

Please note the content warnings for this book because Cora's life consistently revolves around horrific. abuse and violence from her physician husband, and the author explores how this trauma impacts the lives of her children and those around her.

The characters are all unforgettable and I was very moved by this incredibly poignant novel. Don’t miss this one.

Many thanks to the publisher for the gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

What a stunning and creative debut novel from Florence Knapp! Can your name change your fate? This book was fantastically impressive, especially as a debut. Cora, who provides the narration throughout, offers such a thought-provoking perspective of domestic abuse, family legacies, and wanting to do right by your kin. The Names is an emotional "what-if" that has bounced around in my brain for the past few weeks as I tried to put my thoughts into words. How different would my life be if I had a different name? Does fate always play a hand in the paths we choose? Knapp paints a picture for her readers that is bound to root itself deep in their daily lives....and probably cause some existential crises along the way. 5 stars for a fantastic debut!

I didn’t realize how much of this book was going to center around domestic violence. The publishers blurb says this book “explores the painful ripple effects of domestic abuse” so I wasn’t prepared for much of it to be on the page. I’m done reading books about men tormenting women; if I had realized that’s what this was, I would have skipped it.

I’m giving it a neutral rating (3 stars) because I recognize that other readers don’t have the same vehemence about this subject matter as I do, but that feels generous since I was also underwhelmed by the writing.

Does a name define you? This story is 3 stories in 1 book and it tells the story of the same boy--with the exception of having been given a different name. The timeline is chronological: birth, seven years later, teenage/college/career, and marriage. The book was separated into those periods of time and chronicled Bear/Julian/Gordon along with his sister and parents during those periods (pay attention, the multiple story line can be somewhat confusing later in the life). The author portrayed the difference a name can make very well--impressive book. Thank you to NetGalley and Pamela Dorman Books for the digital ARC. I very much enjoyed it. This is my true opinion. 4 stars but only because I sometimes got lost between the different names.

What an interesting concept. This was broken into three sections for each time period - one for each version of Cora's boy, based on his name. This had the potential to get confusing, but for me, it wasn't. I loved all the crossovers from one story to the next, characters who were of major importance in one story, and a minor character in another. Trigger warning: the entire story focuses on some pretty significant domestic abuse, and how it ripples through generations, and how to recover from it. Interesting book, worth the read!

I give this a 3.5/5.
This ARC was provided by the publisher via @netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an incredibly beautiful debut novel about choosing a name and how it affects lives. I went into this one blind and I am so glad I did. Every piece of this story had a strong emotional pull. It was such a unique concept for a story with healing, second chances, and an exploration of the things that shape us.

There were heavy topics in this novel. It was emotional and heartbreaking, but told with great care and tenderness. I thought the audio narration was very well done and I would definitely choose to read it that way again!

Delighted to include this title in the May edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

The Names was an intense book with an interesting premise. How much does our name shape us as a person? Told in 3 alternating storylines, Cora gives her son a different name in each one with very different outcomes. Entwined in these stories is the over bearing and abusive husband, Gordon. I immediately had a favorite name and storyline. Sometimes I wished I had made myself notes to keep each storyline straight. But I still loved seeing the different twists in each rendering. It definitely makes you think!

Often, a book doesn't live up to the hype, but The Names by Florence Knapp is a well-written family drama that lives up to the reviews. The premise of the story is about how different a life and the lives around one can be just by virtue of name choice. Thus the title, but for me, the story is about the resulting consequences, opportunities ,and ripple effects for those in your circle based on choices to act or not act.

Trigger warnings for domestic abuse.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of The Names in exchange for an honest review. The Name is available now.
5-star read

What's in a name?

The premise of this book's plot is so enticing. Cora (mother and one time dancer) and Gordon (husband and physician) have their second child, a boy. He is welcomed at home by big sister, Maia, 9 years his senior.

Because the baby is born at home during a snow storm with a midwife attending, it is days later that Cora trudges to the registrar's office to register his birth and record his name. This is where the meat of the plot begins - she is very ambivalent about the name. Her husband, who is controlling, manipulative, calculating, cruel and for lack of a better term, a real a**hole, is expecting her to name the baby after him and his father, Gordon. Cora herself fancies the name, Julian, and in her mind believes she can justify it to Gordon because Julian means "father" just as their daughter's name, Maia, means "mother." Maia herself, a real little mother hen who has become accustomed to her father's tirades, voices that she would love to name her baby brother Bear because it is a fun, cuddly moniker.

Bear, Julian, Gordon...the remainder of the book, which spans a period of 35 years in seven year intervals, discloses the versions of each of their lives in relationship to the chosen names. What if their son and Maia's brother grew up being named Bear; who would he be if he were Julian; how would the name Gordon affect not only his but all of their lives?

The story is in intriguing while simultaneously fascinating, disheartening, discouraging, and in some instances deadly. It is captivating to see just what is in a name and its connotations. Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group for this captivating read that hits shelves May 6th.

Could it be that the name you give a child could influence their lives as well as the lives of those around him? The author, Florence Knapp, has written a rather unique book that does just that. The book’s main subject is about domestic violence, both physical and emotional. Each chapter details a scenario that plays out with the three possible names that Cora could have named her newborn son. The three names are Bear, Julian, and Gordon. The following chapters jump ahead in years to continue with these three differently named boys as you read how their lives played out. Cora’s life as a domestic violence victim is an important part of this story.
This is such an unusual storyline. There is some disturbing content. I was absorbed in this story and there were times when I wanted to scold Cora to be more assertive and there were other times when I applauded her strength and love of her children.
This book reminded me a little of the “butterfly effect” where small changes in behavior can have major consequences in the future of our lives.

How much can your name affect your life? That’s the question that drives this novel. When Cora goes to register her son’s birth, she has three names in mind for him: one after her husband, one her daughter has chosen and one she has chosen. What follows is what her and her family’s life looks like depending on what choice she makes that fateful day.

The idea that the name drives the future is a simplistic view of this book, as it’s more that Cora’s exercise of her free choice that determines the path not only for her son, but for herself and her daughter. How many of us have questioned a decision we made in our past and wondered if a different decision would produce a better path…I know I have. This book really dives into that part of ourselves, deep diving on how one choice creates such different scenarios. What’s beautiful about this story is that even what the reader may interpret as the “right” choice may not produce perfect results…each path has it’s flaws and it’s own kind of pain that shapes each character in different ways.

This book explores a lot of heavy topics—Cora’s decisions complicated by an abusive relationship, and each name comes with its own traumatic encounters. I say this not to scare off any readers but to prepare those who read it for what’s to come. However, there is also hope and redemption in various forms that help balance the story. This is a story that will stay with a reader for a long time, not only because of the story told within it, but because of the thoughts it provokes about how decisions made have driven our own lives.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Viking for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. I appreciate the opportunity!**

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin for an ARC of Read with Jennas May pick, " The Names". What is in a name.... famously written by Shakespeare.. and the topic of this book. Cora is a new mom who has to officially name her newborn son. Her abusive husband already has informed her that the baby will only be named Gordon after himself. However, on the way to registrars office she asks her daughter what he would name the baby, and then thinks about what she would name the baby, and the story is told as if each name was given ( Bear, Julian or Gordon). This was such an interesting concept and it truly delivers as we watch each story unfold throughout the son's life.

Stunningly beautiful novel stemming from a moment of hesitation of a mother about to formally name her son. It follows three potential outcomes from naming her son three different names, one a family tradition, one of her choosing, and one her daughter chooses.

Two considerations for those about to read. First, because this follows three different trajectories within the same family, you have what amounts to three different stories with the same characters with vastly different lives. It is hard to follow and may best be done in one long sitting. Secondly, our main character, Cora, is physically and emotionally abused. She is humiliated and we are not shielded from it. It is visceral and heartbreaking.

Highly recommended and deserving of all the positive press it is getting.

Does the name you receive at birth define your fate, your life path — as well as those around you? This is the underlying premise of this debut novel, which tells the story of a boy named Gordon — or Bear — or Julian —and those around him. Told in three different timelines, each related to one of the names the boy’s mother gives him, the novel reveals that each name leads to an entirely different life for the boy, his mother, and his sister, and also alters relationships that happen along the way. This is a beautifully written, unique and intriguing novel.

I really liked the concept of the what-ifs. How changing a name can take 3 very different routes in life. I liked the beginning of the book but struggled to stay interested after that. Not quite sure what it was. Maybe the 3 parallel storylines with the side storylines was just a lot to keep track of.

A brilliant debut novel explores how a name can shape a family's future.
The prologue of Florence Knapp's marvelous debut, The Names, begins on October 16, 1987, the day after the Great Storm hit England. We meet Cora, a young woman of Irish descent, as she and her nine-year-old daughter, Maia, push a pram through the debris, walking to a government office to officially register her new son's name. As the pair struggle along, they discuss what the child should be called. The baby's father, a well-respected physician, expects him to be named Gordon after himself and his son's grandfather. Cora's husband is abusive, however, as was his father, and she has unvoiced concerns that calling her son Gordon will perpetuate that "family tradition" as well. (She thinks to herself, "Do you not see that calling our son Gordon might mean he ends up like you?") Cora would prefer the name Julian, while Maia thinks Bear would be a wonderful name ("It sounds all soft and cuddly and kind ... But also, brave and strong.")

The section ends with Cora hesitating as she's about to fill in the baby's name on the paperwork. At that point, the plot splits into three parallel storylines, each of which follows the repercussions of Cora's choice. After we get an insight into each set of lives—Bear's family, Julian's, and finally Gordon's—the narrative skips ahead in seven-year chunks, revisiting the characters until Bear/Julian/Gordon turns 35.

The idea that one minor decision can influence the trajectory of someone's life is not new (there's even a fiction sub-genre called "sliding-door novels," named after a movie starring Gwyneth Paltrow that explored the notion). Knapp's treatment of this concept, however, is remarkable. She postulates that Cora's selection changes not only her son's future but also that of each member of the family, which in turn impacts those around them in a far-reaching web. Her husband's reaction to each name, in particular, sends each timeline careening in a wildly different direction.

Some aspects of the characters' lives are constant across all three stories, but even these traits differ depending on which name was chosen; Maia is gay in each, but she's strong and confident in one timeline, unsure of her sexuality in another, and completely closeted in the third. Part of what makes the novel so unputdownable is that many of the characters' actions are unpredictable, yet completely logical; we can see why each makes the decisions that they do, even if the choices surprise us.

Supporting characters add nuance, appearing in each tale to a greater or lesser degree depending on the direction their plot has taken (e.g., in one, Cora's mother is hugely influential, while in another she's barely mentioned). Although the cast is fairly large, no character is superfluous; each fills a vital role with his or her presence (or lack thereof) and all are drawn with impressive depth.

In addition to simply being a fascinating thought experiment—an exploration of "what if"— each storyline is engrossing in its own right. The book is almost like three exceptionally well-written novellas. Readers get wrapped up in the drama of whether Bear's romantic relationship will work out and if Julian will ever find his niche, for example.

One of the narrative's constants is that Cora is physically abused in all of the plotlines, and in some instances Knapp's descriptions are hard to read. It's particularly wrenching as readers watch the character overcome her circumstances in one story but not in the others; we grieve for her all the more because we've seen exactly what her life could have been like.

My only caveat is that due to the book's structure it's easy to confuse the three timelines. There's a Gordon, Cora, and Maia in each, but they're completely different characters with varying experiences depending on whether we're reading the chapter about Bear, Julian, or Gordon. Several times I had to stop and try to recall who was who, and about halfway through I started wishing I'd kept notes on the characters. This isn't a flaw in the author's technique, since given the parallel timelines there's really no avoiding this issue, but readers should be aware that this book may require more concentration than some.

I've been fortunate to have read many truly excellent books this year, but The Names has risen to the top of my list. I was awed by the author's technical prowess in creating such a unique, captivating novel, and surprised at how much I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and the characters. I highly recommend it to late-teen audiences and above, and I think that it would spark some great book group discussions as well.